A windage power loss model based on CFD study about the volumetric flow rate expelled by spur gears

Abstract

This paper investigates the windage power losses generated by spur gears rotating in pure air by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The three-dimensional simulations are at first validated comparing CFD predictions with the power losses measured in similar conditions from other investigations. The volumetric flow rate which is expelled by the teeth is then analysed, and a correlation which is based on a classical approach used in turbomachinery is finally proposed which makes it possible to estimate windage losses for spur gears. It was observed that this latter approach seems satisfying since the formulation of the volumetric flow rate which is employed in the model is appropriate to each gear.